Elon community members surpassed expectations on their way to collecting more than 47 tons of recyclable products during this year’s RecycleMania contest, which ran from Jan. 28 to April 7.

More than 200 colleges competed in the contest, in which participants were challenged to collect the greatest number of recyclable goods in a variety of categories. This was the first year Elon participated in the challenge.

“We set out with objectives in mind, to raise awareness, reduce waste and create sustainability. We certainly achieved each,” said David Worden, manager of Environmental Services.

Worden commended the community for its efforts, adding that “sustainability is still pending, but we definitely started on the right foot.”

Elon placed well in multiple categories, including per capita classic, corrugated cardboard and targeted material collection. In these three areas, Elon placed 74th of 175, 41st of 104 and 26th of 112, respectively.

The community collected 4.96 pounds of aluminum, glass and plastic bottles per person, enough to place Elon first in the state, ahead of UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Chapel Hill.

A series of contests, between both Greek organizations and residence areas, helped stimulate numbers. Fraternities and sororities were assigned to different teams, each competing to collect the highest number of aluminum, glass and plastic bottles.

The Green team, consisting of Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Sigma Kappa, placed first, accumulating 1,045 pounds of these recyclables.

West Area won the residential area competition with 1,864 pounds of recyclables–6.98 pounds per resident. East Area came in second, with 4.7 pounds per resident. Overall, the residential competition resulted in the accumulation of 10,199 pounds in aluminum, plastic and glass alone.

RecycleMania was established in 2001, when Ohio University and Miami University competed to see which establishment could recycle the most products in a 10-week period. Since then, the friendly contest has expanded to include colleges across the nation.

The contest has seen an increase in participation. This year the number of students participating [22.2 million] increased 150 percent increase in and a 45 percent increase in faculty and staff members involvement [greater than 500,000 individuals].

The sharp rise in participation resulted in a staggering increase in results as well. In 2006, schools collected 18.6 million pounds of recyclables during the 10-week period. This year, that number improved to 41.3 million pounds.

Though the community’s efforts produced great results, much more can be done following the conclusion of RecycleMania. The most neglected recyclable material on the Elon campus appears to be paper. Though blue recycling bins are currently located near many of the campus printers and in classrooms, much of the community’s used paper is disposed of in the trash.

“We’ve got to do a better job with paper,” Worden said. “It’s a matter of training to have that become second nature.” However, he added that Elon’s focus during RecycleMania was not on paper, but rather geared more towards aluminum, plastic and glass, perhaps diverting attention away from paper products.

Overall, Worden thinks the Elon community did a fantastic job participating in RecycleMania. “Obviously, the community pulled together to make this a success,” he said. “We’ll continue next year and make it bigger and better.”

Reporter: Keegan Calligar - Photos: MCT Campus 04/26/07